Fields v. CIR

── Fields v. CIR ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Date: June 08, 2026 Category: Tax Court Case: 25-60403 Document: 66-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/08/2026 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED June 8, 2026 No. 25-60403 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk Estate of Anne Milner Fields, Deceased, Bryan K. Milner, Executor, Petitioner—Appellant, versus Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent—Appellee. ______________________________ Appeal from the Tax Court, Internal Revenue Service Agency No. 1285-20 ______________________________ Before King, Higginson, and Duncan, Circuit Judges. Stuart Kyle Duncan, Circuit Judge: This is a case about the proper tax treatment of Anne Milner Fields’s estate (the “Estate”). As Fields’s health rapidly declined, her agent and great-nephew Bryan Milner transferred $17 million of her assets into a limited partnership. After she died, the Estate filed an estate tax return valuing those assets at nearly $11 million based on the Estate’s partnership interest. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) audited the Estate, issued a notice of deficiency for the discrepancy, and assessed a 20% penalty. The Tax Court affirmed, and the Estate appealed. Case: 25-60403 Document: 66-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/08/2026 No. 25-60403 We affirm. The Estate has not shown that Fields’s assets were transferred for a non-tax purpose, so the bona fide sale exception in I.R.C. § 2036(a) does not apply. Nor has the Estate shown it was not negligent or that it acted with reasonable cause and in good faith. I A Fields was a businesswoman who successfully ran her husband’s oil business after he died in 1963. She had a close relationship with her great-nephew, Milner. During her lifetime, she mentored Milner and funded his education in finance and business administration. Milner worked in corporate finance for his entire professional career, handling various lending and banking responsibilities at major banks. On January 29, 2010, Fields signed a last will and testament appointing Milner as the executor of her Estate, and a power of attorney (the “POA”) appointing Milner as her agent. The POA also named Milner’s two sisters as first and second alternate agents. In 2011, Fields was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her condition progressively declined over the next five years leading up to her death. She fell numerous times, broke her hip twice, and suffered recurring urinary tract infections. She was hospitalized frequently and experienced decreased appetite, weight loss, and confusion. As a result, Milner hired 24-hour caregivers and purchased a home for Fields across the street from him to ensure he could adequately care for her. By 2012, Milner was handling most of Fields’s finances as her agent. And when Fields was the victim of two 2  Case: 25-60403 Document: 66-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 06/08/2026 No. 25-60403 instances of financial elder abuse, Milner investigated and rectified the issues. 1 B In 2015, Milner approached his friend and attorney John Mongogna, seeking investment advice for Fields’s assets. On Mongogna’s advice, Milner f